28 Feb 2025

DJT and JD Vance Bully Zelenskyy in Oval Office in Front of Cameras

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Donald Trump and JD Vance, instead of hosting Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, devolved into bullying him like mob bosses at full volume in front of the media.

Zelenskyy left the White House earlier than planned. Other countries, especially in Europe, were quick to express support for Ukraine and how appalled they were at how Zelenskyy was treated.

Trump had insisted that Zelenskyy must sign over to the USA half the value of Ukraine’s mineral wealth. Zelenskyy’s visit was supposed to be for signing that deal. The USA did not make any of the security pledges Ukraine wanted, but some of the most valuable mineral deposits are in areas the country very much wants not to lose to Russia.

Zelenskyy’s visit ended with no deal. Ukraine keeps its mineral wealth. The USA had already made its switch to Russia’s side clear, but this performance alienated most of the rest of the world from the USA and stirred more resolve among countries that support Ukraine.

After the debacle, leaders of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, European Council, European Parliament, European Union and more publicly reiterated their support for Ukraine.

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Mensa Saskatchewan fact check of figures cited by Trump and Vance: 

In the Constitution of Mensa, it says that Mensa is not allowed to take any political action and cannot hold political affiliations (though Members or groups of members may express opinions as members of Mensa, provided their opinions or actions are not expressed as being those of Mensa as an organization). So while I do have personal opinions on what happened between Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy (????????? ??????????) during the session with the press at the White House today, I am keeping those to myself. I wanted to provide some fact checking on the numbers being thrown around though, as these numbers are not politics but verifiable numbers.
The USA has not spent $350 billion in Ukraine, nor even $300 billion. I have seen figures ranging anywhere from $119.7 billion (Kiel Institute for the World Economy) to $182.8 billion (U.S. Department of Defense), but the most consistent figure that I have seen is around $175 billion, and only $105.1 billion of that is to the Ukrainian government directly:
– $2 billion in humanitarian aid
– $33.3 billion in budget support
– $69.8 billion in weapons, equipment, and other military support
(Council on Foreign Relations, BBC News, Euronews, US Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve)
Most of the remainder is funding various U.S. activities associated with the war in Ukraine, and a small portion supports other affected countries in the region (the $182.8 billion figure includes US military training and replenishing US defence stocks, so it includes all spending on the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine). (Council on Foreign Relations, BBC News)
Of the $182.8 billion from the USA, only $83.4 billion has been sent, with the remaining $99.4 billion either not yet committed or not yet approved for payment. This is why Ukraine has received only $76 billion from the USA, and the $100 billion that people claim is missing is actually money that has not been sent. (Euronews, ?????????? ??????, and CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies)
By comparison, the Kiel Institute calculates that, including military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the EU has spent $138.7 billion (compared to their calculation of $119.7 billion from the USA). Their calculations include only support directly given to Ukraine and exclude things like money used to replenish U.S. weapon stocks following donations to Kyiv, funds spent to help neighbouring countries welcome Ukrainian refugees, etc. However, using a broader definition, the European Union has committed $198 billion so far. (BBC News, Washington Post, Fox News)
Of all the funding Ukraine as received, NATO estimates that nearly 60% of the funding for Ukraine has come from across Europe and Canada. (ABC News and BBC News)
Canada has given $19.7 billion in aid to Ukraine:
– $12.4 billion in financial aid
– $4.5 billion in military assistance
The remaining funds are spread between humanitarian, development, stabilization, etc. aid funding. (THX News and Government of Canada)
Canada has also provided $5 billion to Ukraine from seized Russian assets, and the money will be repaid from interest earned on the held Russian assets (i.e., Russia will be bearing the burden of repayment). (Global News, National Post, CTV News, The Kyiv Independent, and Anadolu Agency)
In total, Ukraine has spent $120 billion of its own money, and Ukraine estimates that that total they have spent on the war is about $320 billion. (Voice of America)
If you’re wondering, 35% of the funds going to Ukraine from Europe have been loans, and some of the repayment of those loans are coming from revenues from frozen and seized Russian assets and Ukraine isn’t having to pay those portions of the loans, and the rest are really generous terms where Ukraine will be repaying less interest over lengthy repayment periods. The remaining 65% is grants and in-kind support. (Washington Post and BBC News)
The actual value of the weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine by the USA is about 60% lower than they were priced because the price was for new stock. Much of the military equipment and ammunition sent to Ukraine is old and of limited combat effectiveness because it came from aging US stockpiles, some of the ammunition is expired, and a majority of the equipment isn’t even used by the US military anymore (and therefore has an effective value of $0 to the USA). Normally, this stock would have to be disposed of, but giving it to Ukraine means there are effectively no disposal expenses. Furthermore, much of the funding for Ukraine is being spent in the USA, such as employing US workers to manufacture the replacement equipment and supplies for refilling US stockpiles. (Kyiv Post, AL24news – ???? ??????? ???????, and CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies)
***ETA: I am unable to share the links directly to the articles that I am using as sources, as there is an ongoing dispute between the Government of Canada and Facebook that prevents Canadian Facebook users from being able to share or even see news articles from any news agency. Here is another way that we are able to share links: